A Sony Pictures Entertainment release from Columbia Pictures of a Phoenix Pictures presentation of a Pacific Western production. Produced by Gale Anne Hurd. Executive producer, David Coatsworth. Directed by Andrew Fleming. Screenplay, Fleming, Sheryl Longin.
Betsy Jobs - Kirsten Dunst
Arlene Lorenzo - Michelle Williams
John Dean - Jim Breuer
Bob Woodward - Will Ferrell
Bob Haldeman - Dave Foley
Helen Lorenzo - Teri Garr
Rose Mary Woods - Ana Gasteyer
Larry Jobs - Devon Gummersall
Dick - Dan Hedaya
Carl Bernstein - Bruce McCulloch
Roderick - Ted McGinley
Chip - Ryan Reynolds
Henry Kissinger - Saul Rubinek
G. Gordon Liddy - Harry Shearer
Ben Bradlee - G.D. Spradlin
The best and certainly most amusing theory yet advanced for the identity of Deep Throat is put forward by "Dick." This audaciously imaginative political comedy will have Watergate buffs in particular and baby boomers in general laughing loud and long, but Andrew Fleming's sharp-witted pic appears to occupy the same niche as the recent "Election," in that it's a devilishly clever satire about teenagers that, paradoxically, will appeal much more to critics and sophisticated older auds than it will to teens themselves, who, in this case, will surely find many of the Watergate refs flying right over their heads. Sony release is sure to find an ardent, if modest-sized, following, one which could considerably expand down the line in video and other ancillary markets.
Director and co-writer Fleming showed impressive tonal control of tricky material in his first film, "Threesome," and he expands upon that promise now in his fourth feature. Taking to heart the phrase that inspired some of Preston Sturges' most inspired send-ups of Americana -- "Some people are born great, and some have greatness thrust upon them" -- and working very much in the same affectionately critical vein, Fleming gleefully throws two teenybopper girls into the vortex of the Watergate scandal and extends the possibilities of the premise to their most outrageous extremes. Boosted by resourceful comic playing by the young leading women and an appealingly scruffy supporting cast, the film scores seemingly at will.
Pic plunks its innocents down in the middle of a legendary historical event much the way "Some Like It Hot" placed its hapless heroes at the scene of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Ditsy teens Betsy Jobs (Kirsten Dunst) and Arlene Lorenzo (Michelle Williams) are best friends who, while sneaking down through the garage of the latter's apartment in Washington's Watergate complex one night in 1972 to mail a submission to the "Win A Date With Bobby Sherman" contest, happen upon a certain G. Gordon Liddy (Harry Shearer) and some others up to no good.
The girls don't think much of it, but when they're on a school tour of the White House shortly thereafter, they see Liddy again and pick up a CREEP hit list that's been stuck to his shoe. Liddy scowls that "they know too much," and has the girls pulled in for interrogation. By accident, they then meet Nixon himself (Dan Hedaya), who attempts to placate the girls by giving them the jobs of official White House dog walkers, as he's disturbed at the moment over the fact that his dog Checkers doesn't like him. In the process, Betsy and Arlene meet Haldeman, Dean, Kissinger, Rose Mary Woods and the rest of the inner circle.
Thus begins the girls' unlikely access to the upper echelons of power and to the most closely guarded secrets at the heart of one of American politics' most sensational scandals. As they stroll around the executive mansion and open the wrong door, for example, they happen to see some paper shredders hard at work and cash being prepared for payoffs. While Betsy enjoys their special status as a groovy sort of lark, Arlene, who lives with her lonely, man-hungry mother (Teri Garr), develops a severe crush on the president, to the extent of dismantling her shrine to Bobby Sherman in favor of one to Dick. In one of the script's most inspired strokes, her feelings escalate into mad love, an emotion underscored by Barry White music and a romantic fantasy interlude with Dick on a white horse on a beach. Discovering her hero's private tape recorder, she leaves him a deeply personal message that just happens to last 18-1/2 minutes. They also bake Nixon some dope-laced cookies, which he loves and, in turn, serves to Leonid Brezhnev during a summit conference.
No matter how oblivious they may be to current events, however, the girls begin to turn on Dick when they realize he's a mean-spirited and prejudiced "potty-mouth." For Arlene, of course, this represents a romantic betrayal of colossal proportions, and the girls set out to destroy him by calling Bob Woodward at the Washington Post.
Given what easy targets they are, "Dick" wouldn't amount to much if it only made fun of Nixon and his cronies. But if the film is devastating toward the White House crew, it is even more scathing toward Woodward and Bernstein, and this gives the picture a real charge. Betsy and Arlene take to meeting the constantly bickering reporters (Will Farrell and Bruce McCulloch) in a garage and teasingly doling out snippets of info, with the men scarcely knowing what to make of the chirpy dingbats, but going with their tips anyway.
The crusading journalists are portrayed as petty, preening and infinitely jealous of one another, with Woodward very sensitive about being physically touched and Bernstein, who's extremely short here and outfitted with a dreadful heavy metal-type mop, always preening and trying to impose himself. A rep house will one day sked "Dick" on a double bill with "All the President's Men" to great effect.
The girls begin to take personal pride in their efforts as the president's men begin to fall, and they use some particularly funny and underhanded feminine wiles to secure some crucial tapes that will lead to Nixon's own political demise; for his part, the inebriated president is seen watching "Love American Style" in the White House while his career collapses around him. As for Woodward and Bernstein, they will assuredly never reveal the identity of Deep Throat, because "It's too embarrassing."
Fleming directs the script he wrote with Sheryl Longin with a sharpness that stings but, pleasingly, doesn't eviscerate; the sense of distance from the events helps the laughs go down easily no matter how cutting the humor. Only demerits are a tendency to let some sequences play out a tad long, seemingly to accommodate fuller renditions of period songs, and, more seriously, a depressingly lackluster visual style and color scheme that the actors have to unwittingly fight through to score their points; the interiors are not lit well, preventing the proceedings from popping off the screen, as they should in a comedy. Tech credits in general for this Toronto-lensed production are a bit threadbare.
Cast, on the other hand, is very solid. Dunst and Williams make a very appealing duo, the former as an attractive dimwit who gradually experiences the dawning of a meager social awareness, and the latter as a geek who slowly replaces her geeky longings with some incipient smarts. Hedaya makes for a terrific Dick, Ferrell and McCulloch have some hilarious moments as America's most famous newshounds, and Shearer as Liddy and Saul Rubinek as Kissinger hit their targets best among those playing Nixon associates.
Contact Todd McCarthy at
tmccarthy@reedbusiness.com